Leadership Experience 7th Edition Daft Solutions Manual

Leadership Experience 7th Edition Daft

Solutions Manual
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Summary and Interpretation

This chapter explains the importance of traits and behaviors in the development of leadership
theory and research. Some traits associated with effective leadership include optimism, self-
confidence, honesty, and drive. A large number of personal traits and abilities have been
associated with successful leaders, but traits themselves are not sufficient to guarantee effective
leadership. Natural traits and behavior patterns can be developed into strengths. It is important
for leaders to recognize their strengths and acknowledge the interdependence that is a key to
effective leadership.

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Research suggests that different leader strengths might be better suited to different types of
leadership roles. The chapter describes three types of roles: operational roles, collaborative roles,
and advisory roles. Leaders can be more effective when they are in positions that best match
their natural tendencies.

The behavior approach explored autocratic versus democratic leadership, consideration versus
initiating structure, employee-centered versus job-centered leadership, and concern for people
versus concern for production. The theme of people versus tasks runs through this research,
suggesting these are fundamental behaviors through which leaders meet followers’ needs. There
has been some disagreement in the research about whether a specific leader is either people- or
task-oriented or whether one can be both. Today, the consensus is that leaders can achieve a
“high-high” leadership style.

Another approach is the dyad between a leader and each follower. Followers have different
relationships with the leader, and the ability of the leader to develop a positive relationship with
each follower contributes to team performance. The LMX theory says that high-quality
relationships have a positive outcome for leaders, followers, work units, and the organization.
Leaders can attempt to build individualized relationships with each person as a way to meet
needs for both consideration and structure.

The historical development of leadership theory presented in this chapter introduces some
important ideas about leadership. Although certain personal traits and abilities indicate a greater
likelihood for success in a leadership role, they are not in themselves sufficient to guarantee
effective leadership. Behaviors are equally significant. Therefore, the style of leadership
demonstrated by an individual greatly determines the outcome of the leadership endeavor. Often,
a combination of behavioral styles is most effective. To understand the effects of leadership upon
outcomes, the specific relationship behavior between a leader and each follower is also an
important consideration.

Entrepreneurial leadership is of great concern in today’s turbulent environment because

entrepreneurial leadership is an important source of innovation and change. Entrepreneurial
leaders take risks to bring new organizations into being or create novel solutions to competitive
challenges confronting existing organizations.

Your Leadership Challenge

After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

• Outline some personal traits and characteristics that are associated with effective leaders.
• Identify your own traits that you can transform into strengths and bring to a leadership role.

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 • Distinguish among various roles leaders play in organizations, including operations roles,
collaborative roles, and advisory roles, and where your strengths might best fit.
• Recognize autocratic versus democratic leadership behavior and the impact of each.
• Know the distinction between people-oriented and task-oriented leadership behavior and
when each should be used.
• Understand how the theory of individualized leadership has broadened the understanding
of relationships between leaders and followers.
• Describe some key characteristics of entrepreneurial leaders.

Key Terms and Concepts

Traits: the distinguishing personal characteristics of a leader, such as intelligence, honesty, self-
confidence, and appearance.

Great Man approach: a leadership perspective that sought to identify the inherited traits leaders
possessed that distinguished them from people who were not leaders.

Optimism: a tendency to see the positive side of things and expect that things will turn out well.

Self-confidence: assurance in one’s own judgments, decision making, ideas, and capabilities.

Honesty: truthfulness and nondeception.

Integrity: the quality of being whole and integrated and acting in accordance with solid ethical
principles.

Drive: high motivation that creates a high effort level by a leader.

Strength: a natural talent or ability that has been supported and reinforced with learned
knowledge and skills.

Operational role: a vertically oriented leadership role in which an executive has direct control
over people and resources and the position power to accomplish results.

Collaborative role: a horizontal leadership role (such as team leader) in which the leader often
works behind the scenes and uses personal power to influence others and get things done.

Advisory role: a leadership role that provides advice, guidance, and support to other people and
departments in the organization.

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Autocratic: a leader who tends to centralize authority and derive power from position, control of
rewards, and coercion.

Democratic: a leader who delegates authority to others, encourages participation, relies on

subordinates’ knowledge for completion of tasks, and depends on subordinate respect for
influence.

Consideration: the extent to which a leader is sensitive to subordinates, respects their ideas and
feelings, and establishes mutual trust.

Initiating structure: the extent to which a leader is task oriented and directs subordinates’ work
activities toward goal achievement.

Employee-centered: a leadership behavior that displays a focus on the human needs of

subordinates.

Job-centered: leadership behavior in which leaders direct activities toward efficiency, cost-
cutting, and scheduling, with an emphasis on goals and work facilitation.

The Leadership Grid: a two-dimensional leadership model that describes major leadership
styles based on measuring both concern for people and concern for production.

Individualized leadership: a theory based on the notion that a leader develops a unique
relationship with each subordinate or group member, which determines how the leader behaves
toward the member and how the member responds to the leader.

Vertical dyad linkage (VDL) model: a model of individualized leadership that argues for the
importance of the dyad formed by a leader with each member of the group.

Leader–member exchange (LMX): individualized leadership model that explores how leader–
member relationships develop over time and how the quality of exchange relationships affects
outcomes.

Introduction

Millard S. (Mickey) Drexler made a success of Gap, Old Navy, and the J. Crew brand. Discuss
the personal characteristics that helped him succeed in the past. Would the same characteristics
help him succeed or make him fail today?

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Men no longer profess to make wind and rain, famine and plenty,
disease and death,—that the dark heathen talk of Tanna should
cease, that all here present should adopt the Worship of Jehovah as
taught to them by the Missionary and the Aneityumese,—and that all
the banished Tribes should be invited to their own lands to live in
peace! These strange speeches did not draw forth a single opposing
voice. Doubtless these men were in earnest, and had there been one
master mind to rule and mould them, their regeneration had
dawned. Though for the moment a feeling of friendliness prevailed,
the Tannese were unstable as water and easily swayed one way or the
other. They are born talkers, and can and will speechify on all
occasions, but most of it means nothing, bears no fruit.
After these speeches, a scene followed which gradually assumed
shape as an idolatrous ceremonial and greatly horrified me. It was in
connection with the immense quantity of food that had been
prepared for the feast, especially pigs and fowls. A great heap had
been piled up for each Tribe represented, and a handsome portion
also set apart for the Missionary and his Teachers. The ceremony was
this, as nearly as I could follow it. One hundred or so of the leading
men marched into the large cleared space in the centre of the
assembled multitudes, and stood there facing each other in equal
lines, with a man at either end closing up the passage between. At the
middle they stood eight or ten feet apart, gradually nearing till they
almost met at either end. Amid tremendous silence for a few
moments all stood hushed; then every man kneeled on his right
knee, extended his right hand, and bent forward till his face nearly
touched the ground. Thereon the man at the one end began
muttering something, his voice rising ever louder as he rose to his
feet, when it ended in a fearful yell as he stood erect. Next the two
long lines of men, all in a body, went through the same ceremonial,
rising gradually to their feet, with mutterings deepening into a howl,
and heightening into a yell as they stood erect. Finally, the man at
the other end went through the same hideous forms. All this was
thrice deliberately repeated, each time with growing frenzy. And
then, all standing on their feet, they united as with one voice in what
sounded like music running mad up and down the scale, closing with
a long, deep-toned, hollow howl as of souls in pain. With smiles of
joy, the men then all shook hands with each other. Nowar and
another Chief briefly spoke, and the food was then divided and
exchanged, a principal man of each Tribe standing by to receive and
watch his portion.
At this stage, Nowar and Nerwangi, as leaders, addressed the
Teachers and the Missionary to this effect:—
“This feast is held to move all the Chiefs and People here to give up
fighting, to become friends, and to worship your Jehovah God. We
wish you to remain, and to teach us all good conduct. As an evidence
of our sincerity, and of our love, we have prepared this pile of food
for you.”
In reply, I addressed the whole multitude, saying how pleased I
was with their speeches and with the resolutions and promises which
they all had made. I further urged them to stick fast by these, and
that grand fruits would arise to their island, to themselves and to
their children.
Having finished a brief address, I then walked forward to the very
middle of the circle, and laid down before them a bundle of stripes of
red calico and pieces of white calico, a number of fish-hooks, knives,
etc. etc., requesting the two Chiefs to divide my offering of goodwill
among the Tribes assembled, and also the pile of food presented to
us, as a token of my love and friendship to them all.
Their insisting upon me taking their present of food, laid upon me
an unpleasant and dangerous necessity of explaining my refusal. I
again thanked them very warmly, and explained that, as they had in
my presence given away all their food to an Idol God and asked his
blessing on it as a sacrifice, even to Karapanamun, the great Evil
Spirit, my people and I durst not and could not eat of it, for that
would be to have fellowship with their Idols and to dishonour
Jehovah God. Christians could acknowledge only the one true and
living God, and ask His blessing on their food, and offer it and
themselves in thanksgiving unto Him, but unto no cruel or evil
Spirit. Yet I explained to them how much I thanked them, and how I
loved them just as much as if we had eaten all their gifts, and how it
would please us to see them all, along with my own gifts, divided
amongst their Tribes.
Not without some doubt, and under considerable trial, did I take
this apparently unfriendly attitude. But I feared to seem even to
approve of any act of devil-worship, or to confirm them in it, being
there to discourage all such scenes, and to lead them to acknowledge
only the true God. I felt as if guilty and as if the hat were rising from
my head, when I heard them imprecating and appeasing their God,
without being able to show them the God of Love and the better way
into His presence through Jesus Christ. My opportunity to do so
arose over the refusal of the food offered unto Idols, and I told them
of the claims of Jehovah, the jealous God, who would not share His
worship with any other. But all the time I felt this qualm,—that it
were better to eat food with men who acknowledged some God and
asked his blessing than with those white Heathens at home, who
asked the blessing of no God, nor thanked Him, in this worse than
the dog which licks the hand that feeds it! Nowar and Nerwangi
explained in great orations what I meant, and how I wished all to be
divided amongst the assembled Tribes to show my love. With this, all
seemed highly satisfied.
Heathen dances were now entered upon, their paint and feathers
and ornaments adding to the wildness of the scene. The men seemed
to dance in an inside ring, and the women in an outside ring, at a
considerable distance from each other. Music was supplied by
singing and clapping of hands. The order was perfect, and the figures
highly intricate. But I have never been able to associate dancing with
things lovely and of good report! After the dancing, all retired to the
bush, and a kind of sham fight followed on the public cleared ground.
A host of painted savages rushed in and took possession with songs
and shoutings. From the bush, on the opposite side, the chanting of
women was heard in the distance, louder and louder as they
approached. Snatching from a burning fire flaming sticks, they
rushed on the men with these, beating them and throwing burning
pieces of wood among them, till with deafening yells amongst
themselves and amidst shouts of laughter from the crowd, they drove
them from the space, and danced thereon and sang a song of victory.
The dancing and fighting, the naked painted figures, and the
constant yells and shoutings gave one a weird sensation, and
suggested strange ideas of Hell broken loose.
The final scene approached, when the men assisted their women to
fill all the allotted food into baskets, to be carried home and eaten
there; for the different Tribes do not sit down together and eat
together as we would do; their coming together is for the purpose of
exchanging and dividing the food presented. And now they broke
into friendly confusion, and freely walked about mingling with each
other; and a kind of savage rehearsal of Jonathan and David took
place. They stripped themselves of their fantastic dresses, their
handsomely woven and twisted grass skirts, leaf skirts, grass and leaf
aprons; they gave away or exchanged all these, and their ornaments
and bows and arrows, besides their less romantic calico and print
dresses more recently acquired. The effusion and ceremonial of the
gifts and exchanges seemed to betoken a loving people; and so they
were for the feast—but that laid not aside a single deadly feud, and
streams of blood and cries of hate would soon efface all traces of this
day.
I had now six Stations, opened up and ministered to by
Aneityumese Teachers, at the leading villages along the coast, and
forming links in a chain towards the other Mission Establishment on
Tanna. And there were villages prepared to receive as many more.
These Teachers had all been cannibals once, yet, with one exception,
they proved themselves to the best of my judgment to be a band of
faithful and devoted followers of Christ. Their names were Abraham,
Kowari, Nomuri, Nerwa, Lazarus, and Eoufati. I visited them
periodically and frequently, encouraging and guiding them, as well
as trying to interest the villagers in their teaching and work. But,
whenever war broke out they had all to return to the Mission House,
and sleep there for safety by night, visiting their Stations, if
practicable, by the light of day. My poor dear Teachers, too, had to
bear persecutions for Jesu’s sake, as the following incident will
sorrowfully prove.
A native woman, with some murderous purpose in her heart,
pretended great friendship to the excellent wife of one of my fellow-
labourers. She was specially effusive in bringing to her dishes of food
from time to time. Having thus gained confidence, she caught a little
black fish of those parts, known to be deadly poisonous, and baked it
up in a mess for the unsuspecting Teacher’s wife. On returning, she
boasted of what she had done, and thereon a friendly neighbour
rushed off to warn the other, but arrived just to learn that the fatal
meal had been taken. Beyond all reach of human skill, this unknown
martyr for Christ died soon after in great agony, and doubtless
received her Master’s reward.
 In helping to open up new Stations, those dear native Teachers
often bore the greatest hardships and indignities with a noble self-
denial and positively wonderful patience. Nothing known to men
under Heaven could have produced their new character and
disposition, except only the grace of God in Christ Jesus. Though still
marred by many of the faults of Heathenism, they were at the roots
of their being literally new creatures, trying, according to their best
light, to live for and to please their new Master, Jesus Christ. This
shone out very conspicuously in these two apostolic souls, Abraham
and Kowari, as leaders among all the devoted band.
Let me recall another occasion, on which I prevented a war. Early
one morning, the savage yells of warring Tribes woke me from sleep.
They had broken into a quarrel about a woman, and were fiercely
engaged with their clubs. According to my custom, I rushed in
amongst them, and, not without much difficulty, was blessed in
separating them before deadly wounds had been given or received.
On this occasion, the Chiefs of both Tribes, being very friendly to me,
drove their people back from each other at my earnest appeals.
Sitting down at length within earshot, they had it out in a wild
scolding match, a contest of lung and tongue. Meanwhile I rested on
a canoe midway betwixt them, in the hope of averting a renewal of
hostilities. By-and-by an old Sacred Man, a Chief called Sapa, with
some touch of savage comedy in his breast, volunteered an episode
which restored good humour to the scene. Leaping up, he came
dancing and singing towards me, and there, to the amusement of all,
re-enacted the quarrel, and mimicked rather cleverly my attempt at
separating the combatants. Smashing at the canoe with his club, he
yelled and knocked down imaginary enemies; then, rushing first at
one party and then at the other, he represented me as appealing and
gesticulating and pushing them afar from each other, till he became
quite exhausted. Thereon he came and planted himself in great glee
beside me, and looked around as if to say,—“You must laugh, for I
have played.” At this very juncture, a loud cry of “Sail O!” broke upon
our ears, and all parties leapt to their feet, and prepared for a new
sensation; for in those climes, everything—war itself—is a smaller
interest than a vessel from the Great Unknown World sailing into
your Harbour.
 Not many days thereafter, a very horrible transaction occurred.
Before daybreak, I heard shot after shot quickly discharged in the
Harbour. One of my Teachers came running, and cried,—
“Missi, six or seven men have been shot dead this morning for a
great feast. It is to reconcile Tribes that have been at war, and to
allow a banished Tribe to return in peace.”
I learned that the leading men had in council agreed upon this
sacrifice, but the name of each victim was kept a secret till the last
moment. The torture of suspense and uncertainty seemed to be
borne by all as part of their appointed lot, nor did they prepare as if
suspecting any dread assault. Before daylight, the Sacred Men
allocated a murderer to the door of each house where a victim slept.
A signal shot was fired; all rushed to their doors, and the doomed
ones were shot and clubbed to death as they attempted to escape.
Their bodies were then borne to a sacred tree, and hung up there by
the hands for a time, as an offering to the Gods. Being taken down,
they were carried ceremoniously and laid out on the shore near my
house, placed under a special guard.
Information had reached me that my Teachers and I were also
destined victims for this same feast, and sure enough we espied a
band of armed men, the killers, despatched towards our premises.
Instantaneously I had the Teachers and their wives and myself
securely locked into the Mission House; and, cut off from all human
hope, we set ourselves to pray to our dear Lord Jesus, either Himself
to protect us or to take us to His glory. All through that morning and
forenoon we heard them tramp-tramping round our house,
whispering to each other, and hovering near window and door. They
knew that there were a double-barrelled fowling-piece and a revolver
on the premises, though they never had seen me use them, and that
may, under God, have held them back in dread. But such a thought
did not enter our souls even in that awful time. I had gone to save,
and not to destroy. It would be easier for me at any time to die than
to kill one of them. Our safety lay in our appeal to that blessed Lord
who had placed us there, and to whom all power had been given in
Heaven and on Earth. He that was with us was more than all that
could be against us. This is strength; this is peace:—to feel, in
entering on every day, that all its duties and trials have been
committed to the Lord Jesus,—that, come what may, He will use us
for His own glory and our real good!
All through that dreadful morning, and far into the afternoon, we
thus abode together, feeling conscious that we were united to this
dear Lord Jesus, and we had sweet communion with Him,
meditating on the wonders of His person and the hopes and glories
of His kingdom. Oh, that all my readers may learn something of this
in their own experience of the Lord! I can wish them nothing more
precious. Towards sundown, constrained by the Invisible One, they
withdrew from our Mission House, and left us once more in peace.
They bore away the slain to be cooked, and distributed amongst the
Tribes, and eaten in their feast of reconciliation; a covenant sealed in
blood, and soon, alas, to be buried in blood again! For many days
thereafter, we had to take unusual care, and not unduly expose
ourselves to danger; for dark characters were seen prowling about in
the bush near at hand, and we knew that our life was the prize. We
took what care we could, and God the Lord did the rest, or rather He
did all—for His wisdom guided us, and His power baffled them.
Shortly thereafter, war was again declared by the Inland people
attacking our Harbour people. It was an old quarrel; and the war was
renewed and continued, long after the cause thereof had passed
away. Going amongst them every day, I did my utmost to stop
hostilities, setting the evils of war before them, and pleading with the
leading men to renounce it. Thereon arose a characteristic incident
of Island and Heathen life. One day I held a Service in the village
where morning after morning their Tribes assembled, and declared
that if they would believe in and follow the Jehovah God, He would
deliver them from all their enemies and lead them into a happy life.
There were present three Sacred Men, Chiefs, of whom the whole
population lived in terror,—brothers or cousins, heroes of traditional
feats, professors of sorcery, and claiming the power of life and death,
health and sickness, rain and drought, according to their will. On
hearing me, these three stood up and declared they did not believe in
Jehovah, nor did they need His help, for they had the power to kill
my life by Nahak (i.e., sorcery or witchcraft), if only they could get
possession of any piece of the fruit or food that I had eaten. This was
an essential condition of their black art; hence the peel of a banana
or an orange, and every broken scrap of food, is gathered up by the
Natives, lest it should fall into the hands of the Sacred Men, and be
used for Nahak. This superstition was the cause of most of the
bloodshed and terror upon Tanna; and being thus challenged, I
asked God’s help, and determined to strike a blow against it. A
woman was standing near with a bunch of native fruit in her hand,
like our plums, called quonquore. I asked her to be pleased to give
me some; and she, holding out a bunch, said,—
“Take freely what you will!”
Calling the attention of all the Assembly to what I was doing, I took
three fruits from the bunch, and taking a bite out of each, I gave
them one after another to the three Sacred Men, and deliberately
said in the hearing of all,—
“You have seen me eat of this fruit, you have seen me give the
remainder to your Sacred Men; they have said they can kill me by
Nahak, but I challenge them to do it if they can, without arrow or
spear, club or musket, for I deny that they have any power against
me or against any one by their Sorcery.”
The challenge was accepted; the Natives looked terror-struck at
the position in which I was placed! The ceremony of Nahak was
usually performed in secret,—the Tannese fleeing in dread, as
Europeans would from the touch of the plague; but I lingered and
eagerly watched their ritual. As the three Chiefs arose, and drew near
to one of the Sacred Trees, to begin their ceremonial, the Natives fled
in terror, crying,—
“Missi, away! Alas, Missi!”
But I held on at my post of observation. Amidst wavings and
incantations, they rolled up the pieces of the fruit from which I had
eaten, in certain leaves of this Sacred Tree into a shape like a waxen
candle; then they kindled a sacred fire near the root, and continued
their mutterings, gradually burning a little more and a little more of
the candle-shaped things, wheeling them round their heads, blowing
upon them with their breaths, waving them in the air, and glancing
wildly at me as if expecting my sudden destruction. Wondering
whether after all they did not believe their own lie, for they seemed to
be in dead earnest, I, more eager than ever to break the chains of
such vile superstition, urged them again and again, crying,—
 “Be quick! Stir up your Gods to help you! I am not killed yet; I am
perfectly well!”
At last they stood up and said,—
“We must delay till we have called all our Sacred Men. We will kill
Missi before his next Sabbath comes round. Let all watch, for he will
soon die and that without fail.”
I replied, “Very good! I challenge all your Priests to unite and kill
me by Sorcery or Nahak. If on Sabbath next I come again to your
village in health, you will all admit that your Gods have no power
over me, and that I am protected by the true and living Jehovah
God!”
For every day throughout the remainder of that week, the Conchs
were sounded, and over that side of the island all their Sacred Men
were at work trying to kill me by their arts. Now and again
messengers arrived from every quarter of the island, inquiring
anxiously after my health, and wondering if I was not feeling sick,
and great excitement prevailed amongst the poor deluded idolaters.
Sabbath dawned upon me peacefully, and I went to that village in
more than my usual health and strength. Large numbers assembled,
and when I appeared they looked at each other in terror, as if it could
not really be I, myself, still spared and well. Entering into the public
ground, I saluted them to this effect,—
“My love to you all, my friends! I have come again to talk to you
about the Jehovah God and His Worship.”
The three Sacred Men, on being asked, admitted that they had
tried to kill me by Nahak, but had failed; and on being questioned,
why they had failed, they gave the acute and subtle reply, that I also
was myself a Sacred Man, and that my God being the stronger had
protected me from their Gods. Addressing the multitude, I answered
thus,—
“Yea, truly; my Jehovah God is stronger than your Gods. He
protected me, and helped me; for He is the only living and true God,
the only God that can hear or answer any prayer from the children of
men. Your Gods cannot hear prayers, but my God can and will hear
and answer you, if you will give heart and life to Him, and love and
serve Him only. This is my God, and He is also your friend if you will
hear and follow His voice.”
 Having said this, I sat down on the trunk of a fallen tree, and
addressed them,—
“Come and sit down all around me, and I will talk to you about the
love and mercy of my God, and teach you how to worship and please
Him.”
Two of the Sacred Men then sat down, and all the people gathered
round and seated themselves very quietly. I tried to present to them
ideas of sin, and of salvation through Jesus Christ, as revealed to us
in the Holy Scriptures.
The third Sacred Man, the highest in rank, a man of great stature
and uncommon strength, had meantime gone off for his warrior’s
spear, and returned brandishing it in the air and poising it at me. I
said to the people,—
“Of course he can kill me with his spear, but he undertook to kill
me by Nahak or Sorcery, and promised not to use against me any
weapons of war; and if you let him kill me now, you will kill your
friend, one who lives among you and only tries to do you good, as you
all know so well. I know that if you kill me thus, my God will be angry
and will punish you.”
Thereon I seated myself calmly in the midst of the crowd, while he
leaped about in rage, scolding his brothers and all who were present
for listening to me. The other Sacred Men, however, took my side,
and, as many of the people also were friendly to me and stood closely
packed around me, he did not throw his spear. To allay the tumult
and obviate further bloodshed, I offered to leave with my Teachers at
once, and, in doing so, I ardently pled with them to live at peace.
Though we got safely home, that old Sacred Man seemed still to
hunger after my blood. For weeks thereafter, go where I would, he
would suddenly appear on the path behind me, poising in his right
hand that same Goliath spear. God only kept it from being thrown,
and I, using every lawful precaution, had all the same to attend to my
work, as if no enemy were there, leaving all other results in the hands
of Jesus. This whole incident did, doubtless, shake the prejudices of
many as to Sorcery; but few even of converted Natives ever get
entirely clear of the dread of Nahak.
If not truly converted, the two Priests were fast friends of mine
from that day, as also another leading man in the same district. They
also received an Aneityumese Teacher to their village, protecting and
showing kindness to him; one of the Sacred Men who could speak his
language lived almost constantly with him, and some young people
were allowed daily to attend our School. These two and a number of
others began to wear a kilt, and some a shirt also. Three of them
especially, if not Christians, appeared to be not far from the Kingdom
of God, and did all that was in their power to protect and to assist
me. A few began to pray to Jehovah in their houses, offering a kind of
rude family worship, and breathing out such prayers and desires as I
had taught them for the knowledge of the true God and only Saviour.
And these, as my companions, accompanied me from place to place
when I visited their district.
But let us return to the war. Many Chiefs and villages were now
involved in it; and a large part of the bush over the country between
had been consumed by fire, to prevent surprises. Yet, our Harbour
people being assembled one night for consultation, a number of the
Inland warriors crept near unobserved and discharged a volley of
muskets amongst them. Several were shot dead, and in the darkness
and confusion the enemy got clear away. Revenge and self-
preservation now united our people as one man, and every man
assembled for action on the borders of the hostile Tribes. I again
visited them on the fighting ground. As I was seen approaching, the
two old Priests, my friends, came to receive and escort me, protected
by their clubs and muskets,—the one blind of an eye lost in war
marching before me, and the other behind me with poised spear and
mighty club. Seating me in a central position, they assembled all the
warriors, except the watchmen, and these savage men listened
attentively to my message, and bowed quietly during prayer. God
only knows what may be the fruit in some dark benighted soul! The
whole host of them ceased firing, till the two friendly Priests had
again conveyed me safely beyond the reach of danger.
Going among them frequently thus, they treated me with
exceptional kindness, till one Sabbath I determined to go over and
talk with the enemy also, in the hope of getting this sad war put an
end to. Our people were sternly opposed to this, not for fear of my
safety, but lest I prayed for the enemy and my God might help them
in the war. But my two friends, the old Priests, persuaded them to let
me go, and to cease their shooting till my return. They had an idea to
buy, in this way, my intercession with Jehovah exclusively on their
behalf; but I explained to them as on former occasions, that I was
there for the good of all alike, that I loved them all and sought to lead
them to give up war and bad conduct, for my God would hear and
bless only those who feared and loved and obeyed Him. I had a long
interview with the enemies also, arguing against the evils of war, and
urging them to give it up. They were so far friendly; they allowed me
to have worship amongst them, and I returned in safety before
another musket was discharged on either side. The war still went on,
though more languidly; but after a time the leaders entered into a
kind of truce, and peace reigned for a season.
The other Mission Station, on the south-west side of Tanna, had to
be visited by me from time to time. Mr. and Mrs. Mathieson, there,
were both in a weak state of health, having a tendency to
consumption. On this account they visited Aneityum several times.
They were earnestly devoted to their work, and were successful so far
as health and the time allowed to them permitted. At this juncture, a
message reached me that they were without European food, and a
request to send them a little flour if possible. The war made the
journey overland impossible. A strong wind and a high sea round the
coast rendered it impracticable for my boat to go. The danger to life
from the enemy was so great, that I could not hire a crew. I pled
therefore with Nowar and Manuman, and a few leading men to take
one of their best canoes, and themselves to accompany me. I had a
large flat-bottomed pot with a close-fitting lid, and that I pressed full
of flour; and, tying the lid firmly down, I fastened it right in the
centre of the canoe, and as far above water-mark as possible. All else
that was required we tied around our own persons. Sea and land
being as they were, it was a perilous undertaking, which only dire
necessity could have justified. They were all good swimmers, but as I
could not swim the strongest man was placed behind me, to seize me
and swim ashore, if a crash came.
Creeping round near the shore all the way, we had to keep just
outside the great breakers on the coral reef, and were all drenched
through and through with the foam of an angry surf. We arrived,
however, in safety within two miles of our destination, where lived
the friends of my canoe’s company, but where a very dangerous sea
was breaking on the reef. Here they all gave in, and protested that no
further could they go; and truly their toil all the way with the paddles
had been severe. I appealed to them, that the canoe would for certain
be smashed if they tried to get on shore, that the provisions would be
lost, and some of us probably drowned. But they turned to the shore,
and remained for some time thus, watching the sea. At last their
Captain cried,—“Missi, hold on! There’s a smaller wave coming; we’ll
ride in now.”

THE DANGEROUS LANDING THROUGH THE SURF.

My heart rose to the Lord in trembling prayer! The wave came

rolling on; every paddle with all their united strength struck into the
sea; and next moment our canoe was flying like a sea-gull on the
crest of the wave towards the shore. Another instant, and the wave
had broken on the reef with a mighty roar, and rushed passed us
hissing in clouds of foam. My company were next seen swimming
wildly about in the sea, Manuman, the one-eyed Sacred Man, alone
holding on by the canoe, nearly full of water, with me still clinging to
the seat of it, and the very next wave likely to devour us. In
desperation, I sprang for the reef, and ran for a man half-wading,
half-swimming to reach us; and God so ordered it, that just as the
next wave broke against the silvery rock of coral, the man caught me
and partly swam with me through its surf, partly carried me till I was
set safely ashore. Praising God, I looked up and saw all the others
nearly as safe as myself, except Manuman, my friend, who was still
holding on by the canoe in the face of wind and sea, and bringing it
with him. Others ran and swam to his help. The paddles were picked
up amid the surf. A powerful fellow came towards me with the pot of
flour on his head, uninjured by water. The Chief who held on by the
canoe got severely cut about the feet, and had been badly bruised and
knocked about; but all the rest escaped without further harm, and
everything that we had was saved. Amongst friends, at last, they
resolved to await a favourable wind and tide to return to their own
homes. Singing in my heart unto God, I hired a man to carry the pot
of flour, and soon arrived at the Mission Station.
Supplying the wants of our dear friends, Mr. and Mrs. Mathieson,
whom we found as well as could be expected, we had to prepare,
after a few hours of rest, to return to our own Station by walking
overland through the night. I durst not remain longer away, lest my
own house should be plundered and broken into. Though weak in
health, my fellow-Missionaries were both full of hope, and zealous in
their work, and this somewhat strange visit was a pleasant blink
amidst our darkness. Before I had gone far on my return journey, the
sun went down, and no Native could be hired to accompany me.
They all told me that I would for certain be killed by the way. But I
knew that it would be quite dark before I reached the hostile
districts, and that the Heathen are great cowards in the dark and
never leave their villages at night in the darkness, except in
companies for fishing and such-like tasks. I skirted along the sea-
shore as fast as I could, walking and running alternately; and, when I
got within hearing of voices, I slunk back into the bush till they had
safely passed, and then groped my way back near the shore, that
being my only guide to find a path.
Having made half the journey, I came to a dangerous path, almost
perpendicular, up a great rock round the base of which the sea
roared deep. With my heart lifted up to Jesus, I succeeded in
climbing it, cautiously grasping roots, and resting by bushes, till I
reached safely to the top. There, to avoid a village, I had to keep
crawling slowly along the bush near the sea, on the top of that great
ledge of rock; a feat I could never have accomplished even in daylight
without the excitement, but I felt that I was supported and guided in
all that life or death journey by my dear Lord Jesus. I had to leave the
shore, and follow up the bank of a very deep ravine to a place shallow
enough for one to cross, and then through the bush away for the
shore again. By holding too much to the right, I missed the point
where I intended to reach it. Small fires were now visible through the
bush; I heard the voices of the people talking in one of our most
heathen villages.
Quietly drawing back, I now knew where I was, and easily found
my way towards the shore; but on reaching the Great Rock, I could
not in the darkness find the path down again. I groped about till I
was tired. I feared that I might stumble over and be killed; or, if I
delayed till daylight, that the savages would kill me. I knew that one
part of the rock was steep-sloping, with little growth or none thereon,
and I searched about to find it, resolved to commend myself to Jesus
and slide down thereby that I might again reach the shore and escape
for my life. Thinking I had found this spot, I hurled down several
stones and listened for their splash that I might judge whether it
would be safe. But the distance was too far for me to hear or judge.
At high tide the sea there was deep; but at low tide I could wade out
of it and be safe. The darkness made it impossible for me to see
anything. I let go my umbrella, shoving it down with considerable
force, but neither did it send me back any news.
Feeling sure, however, that this was the place I sought, and
knowing that to await the daylight would be certain death, I prayed
to my Lord Jesus for help and protection, and resolved to let myself
go. First, I fastened all my clothes as tightly as I could, so as not to
catch on anything; then I lay down at the top on my back, feet
foremost, holding my head downwards on my breast to keep it from
striking on the rock; then, after one cry to my Saviour, having let
myself down as far as possible by a branch, I at last let go, throwing
my arms forward and trying to keep my feet well up. A giddy swirl, as
if flying through the air, took possession of me; a few moments
seemed an age; I rushed quickly down, and felt no obstruction till my
feet struck into the sea below. Adoring and praising my dear Lord
Jesus, who had ordered it so, I regained my feet; it was low tide, I
had received no injury, I found my umbrella, and, wading through, I
found the shore path easier and lighter than the bush had been. The
very darkness was my safety, preventing the Natives from rambling
about. I saw no person to speak to, till I reached a village quite near
to my own house, fifteen or twenty miles from where I had started;
here I left the sea path and promised young men some fish-hooks to
guide me the nearest way through the bush to my Mission Station,
which they gladly and heartily did. I ran a narrow risk in
approaching them; they thought me an enemy, and I arrested their
muskets only by a loud cry,—
“I am Missi! Don’t shoot; my love to you, my friends!”
Praising God for His preserving care, I reached home, and had a
long refreshing sleep. The Natives, on hearing next day how I had
come all the way in the dark, exclaimed,—
“Surely any of us would have been killed! Your Jehovah God alone
thus protects you and brings you safely home.”
With all my heart, I said, “Yes! and He will be your protector and
helper too, if only you will obey and trust in Him.”
Certainly that night put my faith to the test. Had it not been the
assurance that I was engaged in His service, and that in every path of
duty He would carry me through or dispose of me therein for His
glory, I could never have undertaken either journey. St. Paul’s words
are true to-day and for ever,—“I can do all things through Christ
which strengtheneth me.”
 CHAPTER IX.
DEEPENING SHADOWS.

Welcome Guests.—A Fiendish Deed.—The Plague of Measles.—A

Heroic Soul.—Horrors of Epidemic.—A Memorable New Year.
—A Missionary Attacked.—In the Valley of the Shadow.—Blow
from an Adze.—A Missionary’s Death.—Mrs. Johnston’s Letter.
—A Heavy Loss.—The Story of Kowia.—Kowia’s Soliloquy.—
The Passing of Kowia.—Mortality of Measles.—Fuel to the Fire.
—Hurricanes.—A Spate of Blood and Terror.—Nowar
Vacillates.—The Anger of the Gods.—Not Afraid to Die.—
Martyrs of Erromanga.—Visit to the Gordons.—Their
Martyrdom.—Vindication of the Gordons.—Gordon’s Last
Letter.—Plots of Murder.—Death by Nahak.—Nowar Halting
Again.—Old Abraham’s Prayer.—Miaki at the Mission House.—
Satanic Influences.—Perplexity Deepening.—Selwyn’s
Testimony.—Rotten Tracts.—Captain and Mate of Blue Bell.—
My Precious Dog.—Fishing Nets and Kawases.—The Taro
Plant.—The Kava Drink.—Katasian and the Club Scene.—The
Yams.—Sunshine and Shadow.—The Teachers Demoralized.—
The Chief’s Alphabet.—Our Evil Genius.—Ships of Fire Again.—
Commodore Seymour’s Visit.—Nouka and Queen ’Toria.—The
Dog to his Vomit Again.

In September, 1860, I had the very great pleasure of welcoming, as

fellow-labourers to Tanna, the Rev. S. F. Johnston and his wife, two
able and pious young Missionaries from Nova Scotia. Having visited
the whole group of the New Hebrides, they preferred to cast their lot
on Tanna. During the Rainy Season, and till they had acquired a little
of the language, and some preparation had been made of a Station
for themselves, I gladly received them as my guests. The company
was very sweet to me! I gave them about fourteen Tannese words to
be committed to memory every day, and conversed with them, using
the words already acquired; so that they made very rapid progress,
and almost immediately were of some service in the Mission work.
No man could have desired better companions in the ministry of the
Gospel.
About this time I had a never-to-be-forgotten illustration of the
infernal spirit that possessed some of the Traders towards these poor
Natives. One morning, three or four vessels entered our Harbour and
cast anchor off Port Resolution. The Captains called on me; and one
of them, with manifest delight, exclaimed,—
“We know how to bring down your proud Tannese now! We’ll
humble them before you!”
I answered, “Surely you don’t mean to attack and destroy these
poor people?”
He answered, not abashed but rejoicing, “We have sent the
measles to humble them! That kills them by the score! Four young
men have been landed at different ports, ill with measles, and these
will soon thin their ranks.”
Shocked above measure, I protested solemnly and denounced their
conduct and spirit, but my remonstrances only called forth the
shameless declaration,—
“Our watchword is,—Sweep these creatures away and let white
men occupy the soil!”
Their malice was further illustrated thus: they induced Kepuku, a
young Chief, to go off to one of their vessels, promising him a
present. He was the friend and chief supporter of Mr. Mathieson and
of his work. Having got him on board, they confined him in the hold
amongst Natives lying ill with measles. They gave him no food for
about four-and-twenty hours; and then, without the promised
present, they put him ashore far from his own home. Though weak
and excited, he scrambled back to his Tribe in great exhaustion and
terror. He informed the Missionary that they had put him down
amongst sick people, red and hot with fever, and that he feared their
sickness was upon him. I am ashamed to say that these Sandal-wood
and other Traders were our own degraded countrymen; and that they
deliberately gloried in thus destroying the poor Heathen. A more
fiendish spirit could scarcely be imagined, but most of them were
horrible drunkards, and their traffic of every kind amongst these
Islands was, generally speaking, steeped in human blood.
The measles, thus introduced, became amongst our islanders the
most deadly plague. It spread fearfully, and was accompanied by sore
throat and diarrhœa In some villages, man, woman, and child were
stricken, and none could give food or water to the rest. The misery,
suffering, and terror were unexampled, the living being afraid
sometimes even to bury the dead. Thirteen of my own Mission party
died of this disease; and, so terror-stricken were the few who
survived, that when the little Mission schooner John Knox returned
to Tanna, they all packed up and returned to their own Aneityum,
except my own dear old Abraham.
At first, thinking that all were on the wing, he also had packed his
things, and was standing beside the others ready to leave with them.
I drew near to him, and said,—
“Abraham, they are all going; are you also going to leave me here
alone on Tanna, to fight the battles of the Lord?”
He asked, “Missi, will you remain?”
I replied, “Yes; but, Abraham, the danger to life is now so great
that I dare not plead with you to remain, for we may both be slain.
Still, I cannot leave the Lord’s work now.”
The noble old Chief looked at the box and his bundles, and,
musing, said,—
“Missi, our danger is very great now.”
I answered, “Yes; I once thought you would not leave me alone to
it; but, as the vessel is going to your own land, I cannot ask you to
remain and face it with me!”
He again said, “Missi, would you like me to remain alone with you,
seeing my wife is dead and in her grave here?”
I replied, “Yes, I would like you to remain; but, considering the
circumstances in which we will be left alone, I cannot plead with you
to do so.”
He answered, “Then, Missi, I remain with you of my own free
choice, and with all my heart. We will live and die together in the
work of the Lord. I will never leave you while you are spared on
Tanna.”
So saying, and with a light that gave the foregleam of a martyr’s
glory to his dark face, he shouldered his box and bundles back to his
own house; and thereafter, Abraham was my dear companion and
constant friend, and my fellow-sufferer in all that remains still to be
related of our Mission life on Tanna.
Before this plague of measles was brought amongst us, Mr.
Johnston and I had sailed round in the John Knox to Black Beach on
the opposite side of Tanna and prepared the way for settling
Teachers there. And they were placed soon after by Mr. Copeland
and myself with encouraging hopes of success, and with the prospect
of erecting there a Station for Mr. and Mrs. Johnston. But this
dreadful imported epidemic blasted all our dreams. Mr. Johnston
and his wife devoted themselves, from the very first, and assisted me
in every way to alleviate the dread sufferings of the Natives. We
carried medicine, food, and even water, to the surrounding villages
every day, few of themselves being able to render us much assistance.
Nearly all who took our medicine and followed instructions as to
food, etc., recovered; but vast numbers of them would listen to no
counsels, and rushed into experiments which made the attack fatal
all around. When the trouble was at its height, for instance, they
would plunge into the sea, and seek relief; they found it in almost
instant death. Others would dig a hole into the earth, the length of
the body and about two feet deep; therein they laid themselves down,
the cold earth feeling agreeable to their fevered skins; and when the
earth around them grew heated, they got friends to dig a few inches
deeper, again and again, seeking a cooler and cooler couch. In this
ghastly effort many of them died, literally in their own graves, and
were buried where they lay! It need not be surprising, though we did
everything in our power to relieve and save them, that the Natives
associated us with the white men who had so dreadfully afflicted
them, and that their blind thirst for revenge did not draw fine
distinctions between the Traders and the Missionaries. Both were
whites—that was enough.
The 1st January, 1861, was a New Year’s Day ever to be
remembered. Mr. and Mrs. Johnston, Abraham and I, had spent
nearly the whole time in a kind of solemn yet happy festival. Anew in
a holy covenant before God, we unitedly consecrated our lives and
our all to the Lord Jesus, giving ourselves away to His blessed service
for the conversion of the Heathen on the New Hebrides. After
evening family worship, Mr. and Mrs. Johnston left my room to go to
their own house, only some ten feet distant; but he returned to
inform me that there were two men at the window, armed with huge
clubs, and having black painted faces. Going out to them and asking
them what they wanted, they replied,—
“Medicine for a sick boy.”
With difficulty, I persuaded them to come in and get it. At once, it
flashed upon me, from their agitation and their disguise of paint, that
they had come to murder us. Mr. Johnston had also accompanied us
into the house. Keeping my eye constantly fixed on them, I prepared
the medicine and offered it. They refused to receive it, and each man
grasped his killing stone. I faced them firmly and said,—
“You see that Mr. Johnston is now leaving, and you too must leave
this room for to-night. To-morrow, you can bring the boy or come for
the medicine.”
Seizing their clubs, as if for action, they showed unwillingness to
withdraw, but I walked deliberately forward and made as if to push
them out, when both turned and began to leave.
Mr. Johnston had gone in front of them and was safely out. But he
bent down to lift a little kitten that had escaped at the open door; and
at that moment one of the savages, jerking in behind, aimed a blow
with his huge club, in avoiding which Mr. Johnston fell with a
scream to the ground. Both men sprang towards him, but our two
faithful dogs ferociously leapt in their faces and saved his life.
Rushing out, but not fully aware of what had occurred, I saw Mr.
Johnston trying to raise himself, and heard him cry,—
“Take care! these men have tried to kill me, and they will kill you!”
Facing them sternly I demanded,—
“What is it that you want? He does not understand your language.
What do you want? Speak with me.”
Both men, thereon, raised their great clubs and made to strike me;
but quick as lightning these two dogs sprang at their faces and
baffled their blows. One dog was badly bruised, and the ground
received the other blow that would have launched me into Eternity.
The best dog was a little crossbred retriever, with terrier’s blood in
him, splendid for warning of the approaching dangers, and which
had already been the means of saving my life several times. Seeing
how matters stood, I now hounded both dogs furiously upon them
and the two savages fled. I shouted after them,—
“Remember, Jehovah God sees you and will punish you for trying
to murder His servants!”
In their flight, a large body of men, who had come eight or ten
miles to assist in the murder and plunder, came slipping here and
there from the bush and joined them fleeing too. Verily, “the wicked
flee, when no man pursueth.” David’s experience and assurance
came home to us, that evening, as very real:—“God is our refuge and
our strength ... therefore we will not fear.” But, after the danger was
all past, I had always a strange feeling of fear, more perhaps from the
thought that I had been on the verge of Eternity and so near the great
White Throne than from any slavish fear. During the crisis, I felt
generally calm, and firm of soul, standing erect and with my whole
weight on the promise, “Lo! I am with you alway.” Precious promise!
How often I adore Jesus for it, and rejoice in it! Blessed be His name.
I, now accustomed to such scenes on Tanna, retired to rest and
slept soundly; but my dear fellow-labourer, as I afterwards learned,
could not sleep for one moment. His pallor and excitement
continued next day, indeed for several days; and after that, though he
was naturally lively and cheerful, I never saw him smile again. He
told me next morning,—
“I can only keep saying to myself, Already on the verge of Eternity!
How have I spent my time? What good have I done? What zeal for
souls have I shown? Scarcely entered on the work of my life, and so
near death! O my friend, I never realized what death means, till last
night!” So saying, he covered his face with both hands, and left me to
hide himself in his own room. For that morning, 1st January, 1861,
the following entry was found in his Journal:—“To-day, with a heavy
heart and a feeling of dread, I know not why, I set out on my
accustomed wanderings amongst the sick. I hastened back to get the
Teacher and carry Mr. Paton to the scene of distress. I carried a
bucket of water in one hand and medicine in the other; and so we
spent a portion of this day endeavouring to alleviate their sufferings,
and our work had a happy effect also on the minds of others.” In
another entry, on 22nd December he wrote:—“Measles are making
fearful havoc amongst the poor Tannese. As we pass through the
villages, mournful scenes meet the eye; young and old prostrated on
the ground, showing all these painful symptoms which accompany
loathsome and malignant diseases. In some villages few are left able
to prepare food, or to carry drink to the suffering and dying. How
pitiful to see the sufferers destitute of every comfort, attention, and
remedy that would ameliorate their suffering or remove their
disease! As I think of the tender manner in which we are nursed in
sickness, the many remedies employed to give relief, with the
comforts and attention bestowed upon us, my heart sickens, and I
say, Oh my ingratitude and the ingratitude of Christian people! How
little we value our Christian birth, education, and privileges, etc.”
Having, as above recorded, consecrated our lives anew to God on
the first day of January, I was, up till the sixteenth of the month,
accompanied by Mr. Johnston and sometimes also by Mrs. Johnston
on my rounds in the villages amongst the sick, and they greatly
helped me. But by an unhappy accident, I was laid aside when most
sorely needed. When adzing a tree for house-building, I observed
that Mahanan the war Chief’s brother had been keeping too near me
and that he carried a tomahawk in his hand; and, in trying both to do
my work and to keep an eye on him, I struck my ankle severely with
the adze. He moved off quickly, saying,—“I did not do that,” but
doubtless rejoicing at what had happened. The bone was badly hurt,
and several of the blood-vessels cut. Dressing it as well as I could,
and keeping it constantly soaked in cold water, I had to exercise the
greatest care. In this condition amidst great sufferings, I was
sometimes carried to the villages to administer medicine to the sick,
and to plead and pray with the dying.
On such occasions, in this mode of transit even, the conversations
that I had with dear Mr. Johnston were most solemn and greatly
refreshing. He had, however, scarcely ever slept since the first of
January, and during the night of the sixteenth he sent for my bottle
of laudanum. Being severely attacked with ague and fever, I could
not go to him, but sent the bottle, specifying the proper quantity for a
dose, but that he quite understood already. He took a dose for
himself, and gave one also to his wife, as she too suffered from
sleeplessness. This he repeated three nights in succession, and both
of them obtained a long, sound, and refreshing sleep. He came to my
bedside, where I lay in the ague-fever, and said with great animation,
amongst other things,—
“I have had such a blessed sleep, and feel so refreshed! What
kindness in God to provide such remedies for suffering man!”
At mid-day his dear wife came to me crying,—
“Mr. Johnston has fallen asleep, so deep that I cannot awake him.”
My fever had reached the worst stage, but I struggled to my feet,
got to his bedside, and found him in a state of coma, with his teeth
fixed in tetanus. With great difficulty we succeeded in slightly
rousing him; with a knife, spoon, and pieces of wood, we forced his
teeth open, so as to administer an emetic with good effects, and also
other needful medicines. For twelve hours, we had to keep him
awake by repeated cold dash in his face, by ammonia, and by
vigorously moving him about. He then began to speak freely; and
next day he rose and walked about a little. For the two following
days, he was sometimes better and sometimes worse; but we
managed to keep him up till the morning of the 21st, when he again
fell into a state of coma from which we failed to rouse him. At two
o’clock in the afternoon, he fell asleep, another martyr for the
testimony of Jesus in those dark and trying Isles, leaving his young
wife in indescribable sorrow, which she strove to bear with Christian
resignation. Having made his coffin and dug his grave, we two alone
at sunset laid him to rest beside my own dear wife and child, close by
the Mission House.
In Mrs. Johnston’s account, in a letter to friends regarding his
death, she says:—
“Next morning, the 17th, he rose quite well. He slept well the night
before from having taken a dose of laudanum. He also gave some to
me, as I had been ill all the day, having slept little for two or three
nights.... Two men helped Mr. Paton to his bedside, as I found him
lying very low in fever, yet he waited on Mr. Johnston affectionately.
For some time, while he was in Mr. Paton’s hands, I could scarcely
keep myself up at all. We thought it was from the laudanum I had
taken. I had to throw myself down every few minutes.... For some
weeks after, I was almost constantly bedfast. I ate little; still I felt no
pain, but very stupid.... At times, we have services with the Natives.
For a week past, we have scarcely gone to bed without fears. One
night, our house was surrounded with crowds of armed men, ready
at any moment to break in upon us for our lives. We have had to sit
in the house for days past, with the doors locked, to prevent any of
the savages from entering; for every party seems to be united against
us now. The great sickness that prevails amongst them is the cause of
this rage. They say, we made the disease, and we must be killed for it;
that they never died off in this way before the religion came amongst
them, etc., etc.”
Mrs. Johnston recovered gradually, returned by the first
opportunity to Aneityum, and for nearly three years taught the girls’
School at Dr. Geddie’s Station. Thereafter she was married to my
dear friend the Rev. Joseph Copeland, and spent with him the
remainder of her life on Fotuna, working devotedly in the service of
the Mission, seeking the salvation of the Heathen.
The death of Mr. Johnston was a heavy loss. From his landing on
Tanna, he appeared to enjoy excellent health, and was always very
active, bright, and happy, till after that attack by the savages with
their clubs on New Year’s Day. From that night, he never again was
the same. He never admitted that he had got a blow, but I fear his
nervous system must have been unhinged by the shock and horror of
the scene. He was genuinely lamented by all who knew him. Our
intercourse on Tanna was very sweet, and I missed him exceedingly.
Not lost to me, however; only gone before!
Another tragedy followed, with, however, much of the light of
Heaven amid its blackness, in the story of Kowia, a Tannese Chief of
the highest rank. Going to Aneityum in youth, he had there become a
true Christian. He married an Aneityumese Christian woman, with
whom he lived very happily and had two beautiful children. Some
time before the measles reached our island, he returned to live with
me as a Teacher and to help forward our work on Tanna. He proved
himself to be a decided Christian; he was a real Chief amongst them,
dignified in his whole conduct, and every way a valuable helper to
me. Everything was tried by his own people to induce him to leave
me and to renounce the Worship, offering him every honour and
bribe in their power. Failing these, they threatened to take away all
his lands, and to deprive him of Chieftainship, but he answered,—
“Take all! I shall still stand by Missi and the Worship of Jehovah.”
 From threats, they passed to galling insults, all which he bore
patiently for Jesu’s sake. But one day, a party of his people came and
sold some fowls, and an impudent fellow lifted them after they had
been bought and offered to sell them again to me. Kowia shouted,—
“Don’t purchase these, Missi; I have just bought them for you, and
paid for them!”
Thereon the fellow began to mock at him. Kowia, gazing round on
all present and then on me, rose like a lion awaking out of sleep, and
with flashing eyes exclaimed,—
“Missi, they think that because I am now a Christian I have
become a coward! a woman! to bear every abuse and insult they can
heap upon me. But I will show them for once that I am no coward,
that I am still their Chief, and that Christianity does not take away
but gives us courage and nerve.”
Springing at one man, he wrenched in a moment the mighty club
from his hands, and swinging it in air above his head like a toy, he
cried,—
“Come any of you, come all against your Chief! My Jehovah God
makes my heart and arms strong. He will help me in this battle as He
helps me in other things, for He inspires me to show you that
Christians are no cowards, though they are men of peace. Come on,
and you will yet know that I am Kowia your Chief.”
All fled as he approached them; and he cried,—
“Where are the cowards now?” and handed back to the warrior his
club. After this they left him at peace.
He lived at the Mission House, with his wife and children, and was
a great help and comfort to Abraham and myself. He was allowed to
go more freely and fearlessly amongst the people, than any of the rest
of our Mission staff. The ague and fever on me at Mr. Johnston’s
death, so increased and reduced me to such weakness that I had
become insensible, while Abraham and Kowia alone attended to me.
On returning to consciousness, I heard as in a dream Kowia
lamenting over me, and pleading that I might recover, so as to hear
and speak with him before he died. Opening my eyes and looking at
him, I heard him say,—
“Missi, all our Aneityumese are sick. Missi Johnston is dead. You
are very sick, and I am weak and dying. Alas, when I too am dead,
who will climb the trees and get you a cocoa-nut to drink? And who
will bathe your lips and brow?” Here he broke down into deep and
long weeping, and then resumed,—“Missi, the Tanna men hate us all
on account of the Worship of Jehovah; and I now fear He is going to
take away all His servants from this land, and leave my people to the
Evil One and his service!” I was too weak to speak, so he went on,
bursting into a soliloquy of prayer: “O Lord Jesus, Missi Johnston is
dead; Thou hast taken him away from this land. Missi Johnston the
woman and Missi Paton are very ill; I am sick, and Thy servants the
Aneityumese are all sick and dying. O Lord, our Father in Heaven,
art Thou going to take away all Thy servants, and Thy Worship from
this dark land? What meanest Thou to do, O Lord? The Tannese hate
Thee and Thy Worship and Thy servants, but surely, O Lord, Thou
canst not forsake Tanna and leave our people to die in the darkness!
Oh, make the hearts of this people soft to Thy Word and sweet to Thy
Worship; teach them to fear and love Jesus; and oh, restore and
spare Missi, dear Missi Paton, that Tanna may be saved!”
Touched to the very fountains of my life by such prayers, from a
man once a Cannibal, I began under the breath of God’s blessing to
revive.
A few days thereafter, Kowia came again to me, and rousing me
out of sleep, cried,—
“Missi, I am very weak; I am dying. I come to bid you farewell, and
go away to die. I am nearing death now, and I will soon see Jesus.”
I spoke what words of consolation and cheer I could muster, but he
answered.—
“Missi, since you became ill my dear wife and children are dead
and buried. Most of our Aneityumese are dead, and I am dying. If I
remain on the hill, and die here at the Mission House, there are none
left to help Abraham to carry me down to the grave where my wife
and children are laid. I wish to lie beside them, that we may rise
together in the Great Day when Jesus comes. I am happy, looking
unto Jesus! One thing only deeply grieves me now; I fear God is
taking us all away from Tanna, and will leave my poor people dark
and benighted as before, for they hate Jesus and the Worship of
Jehovah. O Missi, pray for them, and pray for me once more before I
go!”
 He knelt down at my side, and we prayed for each other and for
Tanna. I then urged him to remain at the Mission House, but he
replied,—
“O Missi, you do not know how near to death I am! I am just going,
and will soon be with Jesus, and see my wife and children now.
While a little strength is left, I will lean on Abraham’s arm, and go
down to the graves of my dear ones and fall asleep there, and
Abraham will dig a quiet bed and lay me beside them. Farewell,
Missi, I am very near death now; we will meet again in Jesus and
with Jesus!”
With many tears he dragged himself away; and my heart-strings
seemed all tied round that noble simple soul, and felt like breaking
one by one as he left me there on my bed of fever all alone. Abraham
sustained him, tottering to the place of graves; there he lay down,
and immediately gave up the ghost and slept in Jesus; and there the
faithful Abraham buried him beside his wife and children. Thus died
a man who had been a cannibal Chief, but by the grace of God and
the love of Jesus changed, transfigured into a character of light and
beauty. What think ye of this, ye scoffers at Missions? What think ye
of this, ye sceptics as to the reality of conversion? He died, as he had
lived since Jesus came to his heart; without a fear as to death, with
an ever-brightening assurance as to salvation and glory through the
blood of the Lamb of God, that blood which had cleansed him from
all his sins, and had delivered him from their power. I lost, in losing
him, one of my best friends and most courageous helpers; but I
knew, that day, and I know now, that there is one soul at least from
Tanna to sing the glories of Jesus in Heaven—and, oh, the rapture
when I meet him there!
Before leaving this terrible plague of measles, I may record my
belief that it swept away, with the accompanying sore throat and
diarrhœa, a third of the entire population of Tanna; nay, in certain
localities more than a third perished. The living declared themselves
unable to bury the dead, and great want and suffering ensued. The
Teacher and his wife and child, placed by us at Black Beach, were
also taken away; and his companion, the other Teacher there,
embraced the first opportunity to leave along with his wife for his
own island, else his life would have been taken in revenge. Yet, from
all accounts afterwards received, I do not think the measles were
more fatal on Tanna than on the other Islands of the group. They
appear to have carried off even a larger proportion on Aniwa, the
future scene of my many sorrows but of greater triumphs.
A new incentive was added to the already cruel superstitions of the
Natives. The Sandal-wooders, our degraded fellow-countrymen, in
order to divert attention from themselves, stirred the Natives with
the wild faith that the Missionaries and the Worship had brought all
this sickness, and that our lives should be taken in revenge. Some
Captains, on calling with their ships, made a pretence of refusing to
trade with the Natives as long as I was permitted to live on the
island. One Trader offered to come on shore and live amongst the
Tannese, and supply them with tobacco and powder, and caps and
balls, on condition that the Missionary and Abraham were got out of
the way! He knew that these were their greatest wants, and that they
eagerly desired these things, but he refused to make any sales to
them, till we were murdered or driven away. This was fuel to their
savage hate, and drove them mad with revenge, and added countless
troubles to our lot.
Hurricane and tempest also fought against us at that time. On the
3rd, and again on the 10th March, 1861, we had severe and
destructive storms. They tore up and smashed bread-fruit, chestnut,
cocoa-nut, and all kinds of fruit trees. The ground was strewn thick
with half-ripe and wasted fruits. Yam plantations and bananas were
riven to pieces, and fences and houses lay piled in a common ruin.
My Mission House was also greatly injured; and the Church, on
which I had spent many weeks of labour, was nearly levelled with the
ground. Trees of forty years’ growth were broken like straws, or lifted
by the roots and blown away. At the other Station, all Mr.
Mathieson’s premises except one bedroom were swept off in the
breath of the hurricane. The sea rose alarmingly and its waves rolled
far inland, causing terrible destruction. Had not the merciful Lord
left one bedroom at my Station and one at Mr. Mathieson’s partly
habitable, I know not what in the circumstances we could have done.
Men of fifty years declared that never such a tempest had shaken
their Islands. Canoes were shivered on the coral rocks, and Villages
were left with nothing but ruins to mark where they had been.
Though rain poured in torrents, I had to keep near my fallen house
for hours and hours to prevent the Natives from carrying away
everything I had in this world; and after the second storm, all my
earthly belongings had to be secured in the one still-standing room.
Following upon this came another spate of thirst for our blood,
which was increased in the following manner. Miaki the war Chief
had an infant son, who had just died. They told us that four men
were slain at the same time, that their spirits might serve and
accompany him in the other world; and that our death also was again
resolved upon. For four days they surrounded our diminished
premises. We locked ourselves all up in that single bedroom, and
armed savages kept prowling about to take our lives. What but the
restraining pity of the Lord kept them from breaking in upon us?
They killed our fowls. They cut down and destroyed all our
remaining bananas. They broke down the fence around the
plantation, and tried to burn it, but failed. They speared and killed
some of the few goats—my sole supply of milk. We were helpless, and
kept breathing out our souls in prayer; and God did preserve us, but,
oh, what a trying time!
The horror grew, when shortly thereafter we learned that our
people near the Harbour had killed four men and presented their
bodies to certain Chiefs who feasted on them; and that they in return
had given large fat hogs to our people, one for each of ten bodies
which our people had formerly presented to them. Within a few
months, thirteen or fourteen persons, nearly all refugees or prisoners
of war, were reported to us as killed and feasted upon. We generally
heard nothing of these murders till all was over, but in any case, I
would have been helpless against their bloodthirst, even had I
exposed myself to their savage enmity. They sent two dead bodies to
our nearest village, where still we conducted Worship every Sabbath
when we durst appear amongst them; but our people refused to
receive them, saying, “Now we know that it is wrong to kill and eat
our fellow-creatures.” A Chief from another village, being present,
eagerly received them and carried them off to a great feast for which
he was preparing.
At this juncture, our friendly Chief Nowar seemed to become
afraid. His life also had been threatened; and our life had been often
attempted of late. Society around was all in turmoil, and Nowar
urged us all to leave and take refuge in Aneityum till these dangers
blew past, and he himself would accompany us. I refused, however,